We checked in, walked over to Downtown Disney and began the task of getting to the Parks. There’s no transportation directly to the parks from Downtown Disney so we hopped onto a bus to the Disney Beach Club resort. We found a happy surprise in the lobby – a gingerbread carousel! It was really neat and actually turned.
We walked into Epcot. Since the theme of the weekend was “Things we have never done”, the first order of business was ordering one of those frozen cocktails in France. I can see why they are so popular! My Grey Goose frozen lemon drop martini was delicious! We worked our way around the world. We stopped in Germany for some beer and pretzels. Then we headed out to the fountains to hear the Gospel Choir.
They were fantastic! After the gospel choir we headed back to the American Theater for the Candlelight Processional. Usually, Glenn and I make fun of the people who line up hour in advance for the free concerts in Epcot. In this case, we could see why. It is an incredible concert. The orchestra and the chorus are fantastic. They sing portions of about fourteen different songs. Interspersed with the songs is a celebrity reading the Christmas story. We really enjoyed it.
After the Processional, we headed over to Norway. We had reservations at the Princess dinner. It was quite a scene. The Norway restaurant has an appetizer buffet, a la carte entrees and a dessert sampler. We also received a professional 8 x 10 of us with Belle. The appetizer buffet was really good. Lots of meats, smoked fish, cheeses and vegetables. Our entrees were also really good. As you are eating, the princesses work their way from table to table. It becomes a little bit of frenzied pace as you take a bite, swallow quickly, smile for a picture with a princess and repeat. We had a really good time though and I am so glad we went.
After dinner, we went over to the Magic Kingdom. We got there just in time for the Electric Street Car parade. WE LOVED IT!! It was all the old floats and even the old music. We ended up with a terrific place to stand! We even were part of the parade at the end because we were near the beginning of the route.
We followed the parade as it wove through the park and Glenn finally got his ride on the railroad coaster and I got to see the fireworks while I waited for him.
Sunday morning, we got up bright and early and headed to check in at the Pop Century Resort.
We got on the first bus to Epcot since our tour began at 9:45 am. Glenn surprised me with tickets to the Yuletide Fantast Behind the Scenes Christmas tour. It was so much fun. We got to go into the World Showcase before it opened. The tour guides talked about how Christmas traditions had developed in different countries. It was so nice to be the only people in the World Showcase.
Then we headed to the Grand Floridian to see the Gingerbread House, the Victorian decorations and sample the gingerbread. Here’s Glenn sampling one of the roof shingles.
We also went to the Magic Kingdom. We got there just in time for the morning parade!
So we got to see that as well. The highlight of the tour was when we headed to the Christmas warehouse. There’s a crew of twenty-five people who work full time year round to make sure all the Disney properties are decorated for Christmas. Some things we learned on the tour:
- Disney moved to artificial trees about five years ago. They wrap a single string of lights around each branch and then hard wired the ornaments to each branch as well. This ensures that each branch can be removed fully decorated.
- The trees and garlands are stored full decorated and that design will last for five years.
- Since the design must last for five years, the Disney buyers purchase five years of replacement ornaments at one time.
- The trick is storing bows is to put bubble wrap in the loops to keep them looking fresh.
- The decorating of the properties begins in November during third shift.
- They make their own ribbons from authentic fabric for places like Animal Kingdom Lodge and Fort Wilderness Lodge.
- Even though there is a tree and decorations at America in Epcot, the early colonists would not have celebrated Christmas. Christmas celebrations arrived with the Germans settlers in Pennsylvania.
We really enjoyed the tour. It was a good mix of historical information and then insight into how Disney prepares for Christmas. We also received a limited addition pin! It was so much fun.
After the tour, we headed to Mexico to try out the new tequila tasting room. We sampled the cucumber and avocado margaritas, the crab tostadas and guacamole. Everything was so good! The avocado margaritas were amazing! They are served frozen and the creaminess of the avocado makes it seem like milkshake!! SO GOOD!
We left Mexico to head to MGM Studios. Once again, we stumbled into the beginning of the Celebrate Block Party! It is a great parade with lots of dancing and stunts! We went to the Lights! Camera! Action! car stunt show. I was really impressed. We had never been before and it was a lot of fun. What was not a lot of fun was Sounds Dangerous with Drew Carey. It is the worst attraction EVER! You basically just sit in the dark and listen to mediocre quality sound. It was very disappointing. The real reason we were at the park was to check out the Osborne Light Spectacular! It is amazing and one of my favorite ways to celebrate Christmas.
It really is incredible! This year they added some hidden mickeys and even more lights.
Monday, we headed over to Animal Kingdom. The tree outside the park is one of my favorites.
The ornaments are incredible. We had seen the zebras hanging from the ceiling in the Christmas warehouse on the tour so it was fun to see them in action at the park. Glenn headed over to ride Everest. Then we went to the Festival of the Lion King show.
I can’t believe we have never been. It is fantastic - lots of acrobatics, a fire twirler and great singing and dancing. We really enjoyed it. Then we took the train out to Rafaki’s Planet Watch.
It’s a nice 5 minute train ride to a conservation station where you can learn more about the animals in the park and how the staff takes care of them.
After one more ride on Everest and some snacks, we headed back towards Tampa. Every time we have driven to Disney World, we have passed a huge sign for Dinosaur World. I always say I want to go there and this time we actually stopped.
From the road it looks like a collection of huge paper mache dinosaurs. When you get there, it’s a collection of huge dinosaurs made of Styrofoam.
I LOVED IT!! It’s more dinosaurs than I ever knew existed! We saw all the dinosaurs – even though Glenn tried to trick me into taking a shortcut that would avoid half the park. He was a good sport. Pulling out of Dino World, we saw a sign for a local winery. We were intrigued so we followed the signs. We ended up at the winery.
They make blueberry wine. It was surprisingly pretty good. They also make fusion wines with 80% grapes and 20% local fruit. We did the tasting. It was a lot of fun and we even bought a couple bottles. Then we headed out to the Red Robin. I had never been to one and Glenn hadn’t been to the new one by us. It was really good.
Our weekend definitely accomplished our goal s of celebrating Christmas and trying to do things we have never done before. It was a fantastic weekend!
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